UPSC Editorials Quiz : 14 May 2026

Solution: C

• India holds a unique position globally as the only country permitted by the UN to produce licit opium gum (as opposed to poppy straw concentrate produced by others) for medical and scientific purposes.
• The entire process—from licensing farmers to the collection of latex—is strictly monitored by the Central Bureau of Narcotics under the NDPS Act, 1985. Historically, the British East India Company established a monopoly over opium, establishing major processing centers at Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh) and Patna (Bihar).
• Even today, the Government Opium and Alkaloid Works at Ghazipur remains a functional and historic facility. Cultivation is limited to specific tracts in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Solution: B

• At the WSDM 2025 held in Dehradun, the focus was on enhancing the resilience of the Himalayan region. A key highlight was the deployment of “Nowcast” systems. Unlike traditional daily forecasts, a Nowcast provides highly localized and rapid updates—typically for the next 3 hours. This is critical for mountainous regions like Uttarakhand, where cloudbursts, flash floods, and sudden landslides can occur with very little warning.
• By integrating data from Doppler weather radars and automatic weather stations, the system allows authorities to issue immediate evacuation orders to specific districts, potentially saving lives during extreme hydrometeorological events.

Solution: B

• Bitra Island is the smallest inhabited island in the Lakshadweep It is situated in the Arabian Sea and is part of the Amindivi subgroup of islands. Geographically, it lies north of Perumal Par and southeast of Byramgore Reef. Despite its tiny size (approx. 0.17 sq km), it holds significant strategic value.
• The establishment of a naval detachment on the island is part of India’s broader strategy to enhance maritime surveillance and security over critical shipping lanes in the Arabian Sea, particularly in response to increasing regional geopolitical tensions.

Solution: D

• The East African Rift is a classic example of extensional tectonics. As the plates diverge, the crust is subjected to tensional stress, which leads to normal faulting. In this process, large blocks of the Earth’s crust drop down to form grabens (the valley floor), while the adjacent blocks remain relatively elevated or are uplifted to form horsts (the rift shoulders/cliffs). This creates the characteristic trough-like appearance of the rift.
• Statement 4 is incorrect because rifting involves lithospheric thinning and stretching as it is pulled apart and heated by the underlying mantle plume, not thickening. The thinning eventually leads to the rupturing of the continent and the birth of a new ocean basin.

Solution: B

• A belly landing, or gear-up landing, is an emergency procedure where an aircraft lands without its landing gear. Option b is the correct conceptual requirement. For the aircraft to skid safely along the runway (or “fuselage skidding”), the wings must be perfectly level. If one wing touches the ground before the other, the resulting asymmetrical drag can cause the aircraft to “cartwheel,” flip, or break apart, leading to catastrophic structural failure and fire.
• The other options. Maximum speed (Option a) is dangerous because it increases the kinetic energy and friction heat, raising the risk of fire. Pilots actually aim for the slowest possible safe speed (just above stall speed) using flap management.
• Partial extension (Option c) is often worse than no extension; if the gear is unevenly deployed, it can dig into the runway and cause the plane to veer off-path or flip.
• A steep angle (Option d) increases the vertical impact force, which could crush the fuselage and injure passengers.
• Instead, a flat, controlled descent is preferred. This maneuver is considered a controlled emergency, used only when landing gear failure is absolute or when landing on specific surfaces like water (ditching) makes gear deployment hazardous.